Test of Time
by Leodragon678
Summary: Relationships are formed overtime, and that's exactly how it went for the three of them. Prequel to 'Blurring the Lines', cover's how Sonic, Sally, and Tails first met along with other stories that take place before then.
1. Lost and Alone

**Hello! This story is a prequel to Blurring the Lines that shows how Sally, Sonic, and Tails all met one another. The updates here are going to be very spread out so don't really expect any really quick. While I would suggest reading at least some of Blurring the Lines before this, I can't force you. Let's get started!**

 **Test of Time**

 _ **Lost and Alone**_

The snow continued to crunch underfoot as he trudged forward, he was lost, scared, and alone. The tears flowing from his eyes quickly froze in the cold winter air and he shivered as another strong gust of wind blew over him. Stumbling, he fell into the snow, quickly becoming covered in it as what heat his small body had been producing melted the snow that clung to his fur. He gently brushed off the snow covering his arm, allowing the now crimson particles to fall to the ground below, reapplying pressure to the cut, he continued forward. Eventually, after a while, he stumbled again, falling to the snow below, he slowly stood back up, looking for any form of shelter, he crawled into a small hole at the base of a nearby tree, curling up to try and retain any warmth he could. He clutched the small locket placed in the center of the ball he had formed and began to sob more fiercely than before. He could still feel the cold winter wind battering his now tortured body, he had never felt so hopelessly afraid before.

"Mom? Dad?" He quietly questioned, begging for some form of help. He received no answer, he knew he wouldn't.

The snow continued to cover him, and he saw a soft white light approaching toward him, almost calling for him. Maybe dying wouldn't be so bad, he'd get to be with his parents. He faintly heard something coming from outside his shelter. However, he couldn't find the strength or resolve to answer as his breathing began to slow.

 **-X-**

"Sal! There's more blood over here!"

"That means they might still be out here! We've got to be close!"

The hedgehog looked back toward Sally, the two of them had been out on a short run for exercise when they had found blood in the snow, since then, they had been trying to track down it's source, knowing that what or who ever it was wouldn't last long out here.

"I hope you're right," Sonic yelled back. "It's freezing out here!"

They continued in the direction they had been heading when Sally found footprints compacted in the snow, they looked relatively new but would soon be covered in freshly fallen snow, she was concerned with the small size of the prints if this was a kid, he was certainly not alright.

Calling Sonic over they continued to follow the tracks, praying that they wouldn't be too late.

 **-X-**

Several yards away, the small fox curled up in his alcove was losing the fight with death. His thoughts, which normally moved at a thousand miles a minute, had slowed to a halt, red ice had coated his arm, and his tails, which were on the outside of his ball, had completely frozen from the snow that now covered him. He could still see the faint light in front of his vision, but the cold over his body prevented him from acting on it. He didn't know if he should be scared or happy, and he couldn't find the willpower to find out. He heard footsteps behind him before they stopped, he heard a gasp before he could feel some of the snow covering him lighten before he lost consciousness.

Sally dug at the snow covering the small orange form she had seen, pulling it out of the shelter, she pulled the fox close to her, he appeared to be unconscious, at least, that's what she hoped. His left arm was covered in crimson ice, he was covered with snow. Looking down, his eyes were a dull gray and were almost lifeless in their appearance. Quickly thrusting the fox into Sonic's arms, she yelled at him to get back home immediately. Knowing that he was now entrusted with the kit's life, he bolted off toward home, Sally tried her best to follow but was unable to keep up as he continued toward shelter.

 **-X-**

Sonic had never run so fast in his life, the kit in his arms was completely limp, he couldn't feel any breathing, maybe due to the wind from running at full speed. He pulled the fox closer to his chest. "Just hang on kid! Don't die on me!"

He bolted inside slamming the door behind him, he placed the frozen kit onto the couch nearby and frantically scanned the house for anything that could help, he grabbed a blanket and threw it over him, wrapping him up as tight as he could, he did the same with another layer of blankets. He didn't know what else he could do, Sally burst into the door.

"Grab something to heat him, he probably has hypothermia, he's not producing body heat."

Sonic nodded and charged upstairs, grabbing a portable heater, he pointed it toward the kit. Sally pulled his arm out of the blankets and started to look it over.

"The cut looks serious, we're going to need to give that a better look when the ice melts." She added. "How is this kid still alive?"

"He wouldn't be if it weren't for your quick thinking. We wouldn't have found him."

The kit shuddered at he let out a sharp exhale, his tense muscles finally able to relax.

"Looks like he'll live." Sally commented, and the two of them let out a breath they didn't even know they were holding.

The ice on his arm had thawed slightly, Sonic retrieved a set of bandages and Sally tried to clean off some of the blood present on his arm. After cleaning up most of it on the surface of his fur, she wrapped his arm fully.

"That's as good as it's going to get for now, it'd be a death sentence to take him out to see a doctor."

"Yeah, I wonder what he's doing out here." Sonic asked. "Probably Eggman's doing if I had to guess."

They let the fox get some rest for a couple hours. Eventually, he let out a soft moan and slowly, his eyes fluttered open.

"Where am I…" He asked.

"Hey bud, how you feeling?" Sonic asked, walking over to him.

"Who are you? Where are my parents!?"

The kit recoiled slightly in fear, he would have done more but due to his drowsy and exhausted state it was the best he could manage.

"Whoa, calm down! We're just trying to help, we found you freezing to death in the snow."

"Why was I…" He stopped, his brain finally snapping into action after waking up. The other two got concerned as small tears became visible in the kit's eyes. He curled up in his blankets.

"What's wrong?" Sally asked. "Does something still hurt?"

"No…" He sniffed. "It's- It's just-" He broke down again, crying into his pillow.

Sally tried to comfort him, something was clearly wrong. "What's your name bud?" She asked to get his mind off the topic.

"Miles, Miles Pro- Prow-"

"You can do it." Sally encouraged, not quite understanding the weight of her comment.

Miles burst into full on sobs at this point. Sally jumped back in alarm, fearing she had somehow hurt him. The still gently shivering fox jumped up from his position and dashed toward the door. "They can't be dead! They're still out there, I need to help them!"

Sonic blocked off his escape, "Sorry, you're not in any shape to go out now. If you want, I'll go look for you."

"Yes! Take me with you! They need to know I'm alright!"

"You won't be if you come with, you'll freeze. You're still shivering as you talk right now!"

"But… I need to- I-"

Miles collapsed again, this time seemingly out of pure shock than anything else.

"Don't go, they're gone… I know they are…"

"Who?" Sonic asked.

"My P- Parents!"

Sally grabbed him into a tight hug and laid him down on the couch again, placing the blanket back over him in an attempt to get him to stop shivering. She pulled Sonic off to the side.

"Did he just say his parents are dead!?"

"Seems that way, honestly it explains a lot. He's just been a ball of emotions ever since he woke up."

"This is bad, we need to make sure he doesn't do anything rash, once the snow stops we'll figure out who his parents were and if there's anywhere we can send him." Sally suggested.

"Alright, seems like a plan. Well we might as well introduce ourselves if he's going to be here."

Sonic reentered the living space and Miles had stopped crying by this point, resorting to soft sniffles every once in a while.

"Hey bud, look, we just realized we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name's Sonic, this is Sally."

"Mine's Miles, but, you can call me Tails."

Sonic chuckled at the nickname, "Why's that?"

Tails stood up and removed the blanket from around himself, two bright orange tails with white tips separated themselves behind him. Sonic and Sally hadn't noticed this during the rush to save his life, and because he had been wrapped in blankets afterward, they hadn't noticed.

Sonic's eyes visibly widened with the newfound discovery. "That's neat! Tails it is! Honestly, that's really cool!"

The fox blushed at being complimented. "Thanks. I can fly with them too, just not while they're blocks of ice and completely numb."

"Sorry to hear that bud, well, considering you might be stuck here for the night, is there anything we can get you."

"No, it's alright. I'll be fine."

The other two exchanged doubtful glances before continuing. "Well it's probably been an exhausting day for you," Sally began. "You might want to get some sleep."

Tails nodded before laying himself down, Sonic and Sally stayed where they were and waited on him to fully fall asleep. Eventually he did, snoring softly as his mind turned off.

Sonic and Sal both retired themselves to their bedrooms, which is exactly when the nightmares began.

 **Alright, that's it for now! Feel free to comment and follow to let me know what you though and stay tuned for next time!**


	2. Night Terrors

**Hello! I'm back with another chapter! You guys seemed to enjoy reading this story just as much as I enjoyed writing it! Before we begin, I've got four reviews to answer!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: I've wanted to explore it for a bit now, finally getting to writing it feels great!**

 **SuperSentai199: Having a near death experience probably doesn't feel too good.**

 **GameNguyener: He's going to have some issues at the start, he just saw his parents die after all!**

 **Xalixcs: Thanks for reading my stories! Tails is one of my favorites as well!**

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 **Alright, that's all for now, let's get started!**

 **Test of Time**

 _ **Night Terrors**_

Tails rolled over in his sleep, the trauma he had been through during the day was coming back to haunt his dreams. He shifted again, instinctively flinching as he jostled about.

 **-X-**

"Hello!? Can anyone hear me!?" The kit yelled to the snow covered trees. No response came, he continued to wander until he came across still flaming wreckage, looking over, he came across himself, he had curled up into a fetal position amidst the tangle of steel. The corpses of both of his parents laid nearby, he tried to ignore it as he slowly stepped over to himself.

"Please don't take my parents!" His alternate self begged him.

"I'm not going to," Tails tried to explain.

"Then why are you here? Are you here for me!?"

"No! I-"

"Don't lie to me! I know who you are! Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I'm dumb!"

Tails to some extent, was completely shocked, he had no idea what he was being accused of, suddenly, it dawned in him, despite the snow he wasn't cold. Looking down at himself, he found he was wearing a rather thick and tattered black cloak. He frantically attempted to pull it off, only to succeed in getting himself caught in the broken fibers, they seemed to almost grab at him and hold him in place.

The cloak had forcibly pulled itself back onto his head, all the while, his alternate self still cowered in fear. He attempted to thrust some of the looser segments of it into a nearby fire, only to result in himself catching. He dove into the snow in an attempt to put it out, the fire refused. He could feel the flames licking at his sides and back as they continued to spread across the fabric. He wanted to scream as he continued to burn. He felt lightheaded from the pain and smoke that had enveloped him at this point. He felt himself slowly losing consciousness as black consumed his vision.

 **-X-**

He screamed as he woke up, instantly bolt upright on his spot on the couch, he was out of breath. He looked down at himself, the only thing that he was wearing was the bandage still wrapped around his left arm, part of it had become a dark red color as blood was absorbed. He was scared out of his self inspection by footsteps on the stairs.

"Tails? You alright?" He recognized the voice as Sally.

"I, think so…"

"You have a nightmare?"

"Yeah…" He replied, still trying to catch his breath. He just couldn't get the images out of his head.

"Do you think you'll be alright?"

"I think so, hopefully that's it."

"I could stay down here if you'd like."

"It's alright, you'll probably know if I have another."

"You sure you don't want company?"

"I think I'm alright for now."

Sally nodded and walked herself back upstairs, Tails tried to go back to sleep but was unable to do so for a while, he continued to have the events from earlier invade his thoughts. He stood himself up and paced around the room for a few moments to clear his thoughts, while it did help, it didn't quite dispel them entirely.

He tried to relax and laid himself back down, he allowed himself to drift back off into his thoughts.

 **-X-**

He woke up to the sun in his face, yawning, he stretched himself out on the couch and sleepily stood up. It looked like he was the first one awake, he checked upstairs to try and confirm his theory, only to discover that nobody else appeared to be home. He checked around the house and was still unable to find Sonic or Sally anywhere.

Sighing to himself, he decided to get himself some food, as he got things out to prepare something, he noticed the deep red stain on his bandages, grabbing some more out of a nearby cupboard, he replaced the current ones, the wound looked better, he hope that nothing had gotten into it when a steel panel had slashed across his arm.

Finishing his breakfast, he started to get concerned, they still were missing, he grabbed his shoes and put them on, along with a brown scarf several sizes too big for him that he had found, he stepped out into the morning air and started to wander, not after long, he found a smaller town nearby, very strangely, everyone here seemed to be absent as well.

He was starting to get paranoid, where was everyone?

 _"Just keep calm,"_ He told himself. _"There's got to be a reason for this."_

The more he searched, the more he seemed to worry himself. "Is anybody here!?" He yelled, his only response was the wind in the nearby trees.

He took to the air, scanning the area as he flew over the treetops. He couldn't find any signs of life anywhere, even smaller animals like birds seemed to be absent. After flying for a few minutes he set himself down to catch his breath. He was starting to hyperventilate.

 _"You're not alone, you're not alone…"_ He told himself, trying to slow his breathing. His hands were starting to shake. _"Don't pass out, don't pass out,"_ He repeated. Unable to calm down, he instinctively started to whimper softly, normally, this would alert to somebody that he needed help, but nobody was around to hear his quiet pleas.

 **-X-**

Sally awakened to a whimpering noise coming from downstairs, having a hunch as to what its source might be, she stepped downstairs to where Tails was sleeping, he seemed to be having another nightmare. He was letting out soft whimpers and shaking, clutching his blankets as if his life depended on it.

"Anybody…" He softly spoke.

Sally pulled him from his spot and started upstairs, the moment she picked up the kit he seemed to relax a bit. She opened the door to Sonic's room.

"Sonic," she tried to rouse him awake. "Sonic."

"Yes…" He somewhat sleepily replied.

"Tails has been having nightmares all night, is it alright if he sleeps in here?"

"Yeah, just put him here."

Sal brought the still sleeping kit over and gently placed him under the blankets. "Hopefully that should help, I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Night Sal."

Sonic allowed himself to drift back off to sleep, feeling one of the kit's tails brushing against his back as he zoned out.

 **-X-**

Tails still felt hopelessly lost. Normally, he wouldn't be too bothered by this, however, suddenly, he was unable to keep his anxiety at bay, it was almost completely overwhelming at this point, he felt lightheaded, and he was starting to be extremely paranoid, thinking through everything that could go wrong.

 _"I'm going to lose my mind out here. Is everyone dead?"_ He thought. _"No, that's not possible, is it?"_

He was just wandering around without aim at this point, hoping he would run into somebody, heck, he would settle for something at this point. It seemed no matter which way he went, or how far he traveled, all he found was endless trees.

He sat down at the base of one of the trees, he clutched his head as a major wave of nausea washed over him. _"Don't pass out, don- don't…"_ He couldn't hold it off for any longer, he allowed his heavy eyelids to close and his body to slump over into the grass.

 **-X-**

Tails slowly awoke, he found himself in a different place then where he had fallen asleep. He could sense somebody behind him and, looking over, he found Sonic fast asleep. Almost instantly, his anxiety vanished and he felt much better. He allowed himself to fall back asleep, and this time, he slept soundly until morning.

Sonic yawned as he woke, trying to sit up on the bed, he found himself restrained by something. Looking down, he found two bright orange tails had wrapped around his chest, he gently pulled them off himself and got out of the bed, taking care not to wake Tails as he did.

Downstairs, he found Sally was already awake for the day. "Morning," he commented.

"Morning, where's Tails?"

"Still upstairs, asleep."

"Any other nightmares?"

"Not that I noticed, then again, you know I'm a heavy sleeper."

"Well, seems like the storm from last night has cleared, I'll take him into a doctor today. That arm still needs a good look, maybe a few stitches."

"Then we'll find out who his parents were and see if there's any other relatives who could take him in. As cute as he might be, I'm not really comfortable with him staying here."

"Why? It's not any stranger that us living together!"

"Yeah, but, he's somebody's kid, or at least was. I don't think he's old enough to even understand what's happening. At least with us we had a choice in the matter."

"True, but he seems nice enough." Sally replied. "I don't mind him staying here."

"Sal, we're teenagers, not orphanage owners."

"Sonic! That's inconsiderate! He's been through a lot, let's just see what we can do."

"Alright…" He reluctantly agreed.

They agreed and got started on breakfast, shortly after, Tails stepped downstairs.

"Morning Tails, you feeling better?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, my arm feels a bit sore, but otherwise much better."

"That's good, we're going to a doctor today to get that looked at, the bandages were the best we could do."

"Alright, could we replace them as well, these ones are starting to get soaked."

"Sure, let me see it."

She grabbed more bandages and pulled the current ones off, the cut underneath started to bleed lightly as the pressure was released on it. Before replacing the bandages, they washed it, removing all the dried blood underneath. As it was washed, the bleeding increased as the clotted blood was partially washed away.

"Well, it looks better, not perfect, but better." Sally commented.

"Yeah, I just hope nothing got in it."

"How'd it even happen in the first place?" Sonic asked.

"Metal fragment, slashed all the way across it, hurt like crazy."

"What happened, like how'd you get here?"

"My- my."

"If you don't feel ready to talk about it, you don't have to." Sally commented, noting his reaction.

"It's ok, my mom and dad work for the queen, they're like, I'm not completely sure what they do, we go on trips a lot, dad has his own little plane. Yesterday, we…"

Tails had to stop himself for a moment, his emotions getting the better of him.

"We, were flying to somewhere, I don't know where, when… W- We… I'm sorry, I- I just can't talk about it…"

"It's alright, you did pretty good." Sally replied. "You shouldn't have to talk about it if you don't want to.

"I know, I just thought I could do it…" The kit sniffled, trying his hardest not to cry.

"How old are you Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Seven."

"You seem pretty smart for seven."

"My dad told me that a lot, I'd work with him in his workshop sometimes, he knows a lot about machines."

"Well, food is ready. After, we'll head out to get that arm looked at."

"Ok, thanks for letting me stay with you guys."

"Well, what else were we supposed to do?" Sally asked, "Leave you to freeze?"

"I'm just happy you were there, I would be dead if it wasn't for you…"

"We're happy you're here too Miles."

They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence, when they finished, they headed out toward the city. Determined to find Miles a home.

 **Alright guys, that's all for now, sorry about all the paragraph breaks in this one. Tails seems to be developing some anxiety and emotions that he just isn't prepared to handle. If you enjoyed the story, leave a review to let me know what you liked, and follow to be notified whenever I update! Until next time!**


	3. Against the Clock

**Hello! I'm back! Let's not waste any time and get started!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Xalixcs: Yeah, he's probably my favorite to write. He's seriously shook up about it.**

 **SuperSentai199: He's going to be pretty affected by it of course, thanks for the comment!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: He's not completely on board with taking care of a child, especially considering the circumstances.**

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 **B_Rabbit14: He should be getting better as it goes on, you'll have to read to see!**

 **That's it for now, let's get going!**

 **Test of Time**

 _ **Against the Clock**_

Tails, characteristic of younger kids, wasn't eager to see a doctor, but he accepted that he needed it. He had commented on his parents using needles quite a bit at their work, but he wouldn't elaborate further. Anytime he tried, he wouldn't get very far before he was completely overwhelmed by emotions. It was decided by the doctor that stitches would be required for his injured arm. Being put to sleep during the entirety of the procedure was also done due to his age, after a couple hours, he slowly awoke. He was very confused as to where he was and what was happening.

"Wha is tis?" He tried to ask, gesturing to his arm. His voice was slurred from the anesthesia.

"Those are stitches Tails." Sally replied.

"I don ike them." The kit attempted to scratch at them, "Why do I need them?"

"They're to let your arm get better, do you remember?"

"Not realy, I don't member much. Who are you?"

Sally sighed to herself, this could take some explaining.

She entertained his questions for about another hour, slowly he seemed to become more and more aware of what was going on, though he was still somewhat loopy.

"What is this?" He asked for what seemed like the hundredth time, grabbing at something attached to his neck.

Sally removed it from him, she hadn't known he was wearing something as it was heavily concealed by his fur. Looking it over, it appeared to be a locket of some kind, inside was a picture of Tails with both of his parents, he seemed about the age he was now, maybe a little younger. His dad was on his right, he had dark brown fur, which heavily contrasted that of his mom's who was almost pure white. Neither had additional tails like Miles did.

The kit groggily reached out and pawed at her hand, understanding what he wanted, she put the locket back around his neck, which seemed to comfort him a but. Picking up the kit and throwing him over her shoulder, she headed back to the exit where Sonic was waiting, they had only allowed one of them back with Tails as to not overwhelm him as he woke and so she had gone.

"We good?" Sonic asked.

"He's still a bit out of it, but otherwise yeah. I think he's aware enough to head out."

"Cool." He looked over at the kit, "How you feeling bud?"

There was no response for a bit, Sally finally noticed that he had fallen asleep draped over her shoulder, so she responded for him. "Lightheaded, and tired apparently."

"You got that right, he's out! We still going to go look at his records considering the fact that he's sleeping?"

"Yeah, I'll wake him if we need to. He's probably tired from last night."

"Seems that way, let's get going!"

The two headed for the records department, before entering, they woke Tails back up, he still seemed rather tired, but he at least was practically fully aware of his surroundings now.

"Hello!" The gray wolf seated at the desk spoke, can I help you?

"Yeah, can you bring up the records for Miles Prower?" Sonic asked.

"Let me see," He consulted his computer for a second before replying. "Yep, I assume that's the little one here."

"You got it, what's listed under family? Could we have a look?"

"Sure," he turned the screen to face him. Sonic and Sally's hopes collectively dropped as the only two listed names were those of his parents. They hadn't been updated as deceased in the records yet, but this meant there wasn't anybody whom was listed, much less wanted Tails.

The kit still seemed somewhat oblivious as to what this meant for him, looked confused at where they were and was more focused on looking at all his surroundings than the info they had come for.

"Well thanks," Sonic replied as they went to leave.

"No problem!"

The three left back toward their home. As soon as they had left the wolf pulled out a phone and sent out a call.

"Boss, you won't believe who just came in..."

 **-X-**

The trio arrived back home, Tails was still rather tired and as such, retired to a bed to sleep, leaving the other two to themselves.

"This is bad," Sonic began. "Nothing, how could there be nothing!"

"I don't understand either," Sally replied. "That doesn't leave us much options does it."

"Send him to an orphanage? Seems like our only choice at this point, that or leave him to live on his own."

"You're forgetting one."

"What?"

"We could adopt him!" Sally exclaimed, Sonic simply rolled his eyes at the thought.

"I don't know Sal, I'm not too opposed to the idea, he seems like a nice kid, it's just that I don't know how he'll handle our lifestyle. Plus, that would mean looking after a kid that isn't even one of ours."

"He would be!"

"Not by blood! It would just be weird."

"And you living with me isn't?" Sally questioned.

"I don't know Sal, it's a lot to take in at once."

They were silent for a minute before Sally had a suggestion. "Tell you what, I won't make you decide yet, we'll give it a week, after that you can figure out whether or not you want him to stay."

Sonic nodded his head a few times, contemplating the proposal. "I'll give it a shot, still not sure how I feel about it though."

"You'll learn to like him, I know you will." Sonic rolled his eyes and they shook on the idea. They stayed up a bit longer before they both headed to bed.

 **-X-**

Sally was awoken by knocking at the door, groaning she stood up and walked down stairs. _"Who's here at this time of night?"_

Opening the door, she found herself face to face with a royal marine, she could tell by the stark black uniform he wore.

"Greetings, I'm here looking for a child by the name of Miles Prower, is there any chance you've seen him?"

"Yeah, he's here, we found him in the woods a few days ago. Why?"

"We recently discovered that he survived a reported plane crash, we'd like to take him and locate him a home."

"I'll go get him," She let the guard inside and walked upstairs to Sonic's room, Tails slept with him to try and control his night terrors.

"Sonic, Tails, I need you two for a second."

Tails slowly got out of bed before walking over to join her, Sonic followed after a second.

The marine knelt to be at Tails level before speaking. "Miles, I heard what happened to your parents, I'd like to say I'm sorry. You're going to need to come with me, we'll find you somewhere to stay."

"What about Sonic and Sally?"

"It's for the best Tails," Sally replied. He'll find you somewhere to stay.

"Alright…" Tails yawned. He stepped over to the two of them and tried to pull them both into a hug. "Thanks for all the help, I'll try and visit sometime."

"You're welcome bud," Sonic replied.

Tails waved them a goodbye before stepping out with the guard.

"Well, that solves that, huh?" Sal commented.

"Yeah, not gonna lie, I'll miss him."

"Oh, now you realize!"

"Guess you don't really know until it's gone." Sonic shrugged.

After talking for a bit, they returned to bed. Knowing Tails was off finding a better life.

 **-X-**

Several days passed, Sonic and Sally continued their standard routine. They had just returned from a morning run and were getting food.

"I still don't understand how going that fast is even possible." Sally commented. "I mean aren't their downsides?"

"Not really, stopping is an issue, but otherwise not much."

"How do you not-"

They were interrupted by a knock, Sonic answered. Sally continued eating, he could handle the door.

"Sal, we've got a problem."

Intrigued, the stepped over and found a pair of royal marines, exactly the kind that Tails had left with.

"You said you found Miles Prower?" One asked, "Do you know where he is?"

"I though he went with you, a marine came over the other day and took him."

The two guards exchanged a look, "Ma'am, I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us, both of you should."

Confused but willing to comply, they followed, trying to come up with their own answers to who Miles was with, none of them were good.

 **-X-**

Eventually they arrived at the castle and were brought downstairs to a laboratory of sorts. A male black cat wearing a lab coat was pacing nervously within it.

"Who are you, and what do you want with Tails?" Sonic demanded as they entered.

The cat stopped pacing and turned to face them, "My name is Dr. Jarus, I'm the head of the crown's research and development ever since what happened to the Prowers. I called you here because Miles' life is at stake."

"Of course it is!" Sally interjected, "He's been kidnapped!"

"That isn't my concern, it's something far worse than that."

"What could be worse!?"

"Having your body shut itself down from the inside out?"

Sonic and Sally both gave him somewhat puzzled and shocked looks.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," Jarus stated, noting their stares. "Amadeus and Rosemary met when they were both assigned as heads to the research and development team, along with me as a third. They grew a fondness for one another and, eventually, Amadeus decided to make it official. They were married, and soon after, they were expecting their first son Miles."

Sonic and Sally simply tried to absorb all the information they could, Jarus continued his story.

"They were originally brought together by a task from the Queen herself, we were tasked with creating a genetically modified Mobian, one that would be capable of surviving extreme conditions. Rosemary was particularly valuable due to her background in biology and genetics We spent months working on it, trying to create anything we could, we tested it on other animals, and it seemed to work perfectly. We were on the cusp of a major breakthrough, coupled with Amadeus and Rosemary's excitement from their recent marriage. After we finished, we soon discovered a problem, the serum wouldn't work on a fully grown Mobian, as their DNA had already developed. We needed a freshly conceived embryo, a blank slate if you will. We tried desperately to find anybody that was willing, but no response."

"Seems about right, not sure if I'd be fine with people messing with my DNA." Sonic commented.

"Eventually, Rosemary and Amadeus announced they were expecting their first child, I couldn't have been happier for them. But Rosemary had other ideas. She volunteered herself, along with her unborn child, as subjects for our experiment. You can imagine our shock at this idea, but even after trying desperately to convince her not to and explaining the potential risks to herself and her child, she got the final say. Begrudgingly, we were forced to go along with the experiment, knowing she'd find a way to do it without us if she had to. She was checked practically daily, and while everything seemed to work fine, the child had developed an extra tail, a simple side effect of the modification, nothing major. If only we had known at the time what it signified."

"Well, it can't have been that bad, considering Tails is still alive."

"That's only the beginning, after Miles was born, he seemed to be in perfect health. After a while, we allowed him to leave to live with his parents, while the experiment was a failure, we had gained more information than we could have dreamed. Several months later, about five to be exact, Miles was brought back in to me. He appeared deathly ill and was barely responsive when he was presented to me. We had no idea what was wrong until close inspection, Miles' cells were unable to communicate with each other, they were slowly degrading and the ones that weren't were unable to keep up."

"That's not good is it?"

"Not at all, if left to run its course, he would be dead within days. While we worked frantically to try and find a cure, his condition only worsened, he stopped eating, was barely coherent, was always tired, and was in constant pain. His body was being torn apart from the inside out. Eventually, we realized we wouldn't be able to produce a cure in time. So, we changed our focus, prolong his life as long as we could, hopefully long enough to find something to cure him for good. With hours left before Miles hit the point of no return, we finished, after giving it to him he slowly stabilized, he would live. It was only temporary, it would need to be administered every six months, more often later on as his body built a tolerance to it."

"Did you ever find a cure?"

"We worked on it, as we didn't want to alarm him whenever we brought him in for tests and data, we tried to keep it somewhat discrete. Eventually, we had almost succeeded in finishing it, it was around then we believed that they were all killed in an accident. With only a few days from the completion as well, I finished out of habit but shelved it with nothing to give it to. Yesterday we found some evidence that Miles might have survived the crash, I sent teams to search the area and eventually they found you claiming we had already found him, I feared the worst. He needs to have the cure distributed to him, did he show any symptoms while he was with you?"

"He was tired often, but nothing else out of the ordinary." Sally replied.

"Then it's already started, he needs to be found as soon as possible! I estimate he only has a few days left. He needs the cure in his system, soon."

"We don't even know where to start though!"

"That's our problem, if he's not found within the next few days, he will die. I've already got teams trying to find him, but they've had no success."

"We'll try, I can't promise anything."

"That's all I needed to hear, let's get going!"

Sonic and Sally darted out, setting themselves to find Tails, assuming it wasn't to late.

 **Alright that's all for now, extra long update for you guys today because I didn't want to stop it early! Leave a review with your thoughts and let me know how I did, until next time!**


	4. Captive Audience

**Hello Everyone! I'm back with an update, but first some reviews and an announcement!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **SuperSentai199: The twist was something I decided from the start, got to have conflict in there somewhere! :)**

 **Piggon: You'll have to read and find out what will happen! Glad you enjoyed it!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: We'll have an update with Tails later in the chapter to see what he's going through; the twist was lots of fun to write!**

 **TheGameNguyener: The question remains as to who the marine was, and why they're after Tails. I plan on giving more explanation in this chapter so have fun!**

 **(AO3 Comments)**

 **B_Rabbit14: Good to know you're on edge! :) I was a little scared for the execution of the last chapter, but judging by the reviews, I think it went much better than I expected!**

 **In other news, we finally have cover art for this story! You can find a link to it here:**

 **www*deviantart*com/hoshinousagi/art/Comm-Lost-and-Alone-786175427 (Replace the stars with periods)**

 **That's everything for now, let's get going!**

 **Test of Time**

 _ **Captive Audience**_

"Where in the world would they even get one of those uniforms!?"

"I have no idea, they're only issued to royal marines, there's no way to get one as far as I'm aware." Sally explained, the two of them were trying to figure out exactly who had Tails, and more importantly, where he was being held.

"We still haven't ruled out Eggman."

"Yeah, but he's been missing for months. Not to mention the idea of him getting a guard uniform, it just doesn't make sense. If we had a motive it could help in ruling some things out, but as it stands, there's not anything!"

"I can't think of any reason somebody would want the newly orphaned son of two royal scientists, it can't be for a ransom because they knew Tails' parents were dead."

"See, that bugs me." Sally commented, "Because the Prower's records when we went and looked at them didn't list them as deceased, meaning-"

"How would they have known about it unless-"

"They were somehow involved!" They both exclaimed.

"Wait," Sonic solemnly questioned. "You don't think they would, kill him right?"

"It'll happen either way if they don't release him, you heard what Jarus said."

"Yeah, but, if it's really the same group responsible for Tails' parents, maybe they meant to…"

"Sonic, he'll be alright, we just need to focus on finding him."

"I know, I'm just concerned for the little guy."

"We'll figure it out, we just need to look at everything."

Sonic nodded and they continued going over any scrap of information they had, meanwhile, a certain fox was not having the best day of his life.

 **-X-**

Tails sighed as he pressed his head to the reinforced glass that made up the front of his cell. There was nothing he could recognize down either direction, just like the last time he had checked. He sat back down on his small cot and tugged at the collar around his neck, it had gotten really annoying during the few days he had been here, though he still was unaware of it's purpose. He also had plasma shackles placed around his ankles, wrists, and tails. However they weren't activated, allowing him his full range of motion.

He flew up to the ceiling, looking for any vulnerability in his cell he could use. As usual, nothing presented itself. He slowly descended down to the ground, and caught his breath. Normally, he could fly for several minutes at a time, but the extra weight of all of his restraints made that significantly harder. He could only hover for a minute or so before needing to take a break. He figured with nothing better to do, he would lay down and take a nap, he had felt really tired for the past few days.

Just as he had gotten comfortable with his blanket, the door to his cell opened slightly, he instantly felt all of his restraints activate, locking his tails together behind him, and him arms together in front of him, and while he could still move his feet, they could only get a short distance from one another. He stood himself up and looked at the newcomer. He recognized it as Orbot, a small round robot plated in red steel, he had been Tails' 'Caretaker' for the time he had been here, bringing him his food and checking on him occasionally.

"Hello Tails, I require you to come with me." The newcomer spoke, as much as Tails didn't want to, he didn't seem to have a choice. He stepped out of his cell and followed Orbot down a maze of hallways. While he would have liked to, he knew he had no way of escape, he wouldn't get far at the speed he could move now, having to run as much as his restraints would allow to even keep up with Orbot. Attempting also could lead to him getting lost in the endless maze of corridors, along with angering his mysterious captor. Which, considering he was well fed, and had full freedom inside his cell, was not something he wanted happening.

They entered an elevator of sorts and Orbot directed it to ascend to its highest floor. After a short wait the doors opened again and he found himself in what appeared to be a command center of sorts, he was directed to a central area in the room and told to wait. Orbot left the room leaving him all alone, he tried to reach one of the computers to at least see if there was something he could use, however, he found that the restraint around his neck had tethered him to a hub in the floor, yanking back and delivering a short electric shock to the kit, causing him to let out a short yip in surprise.

His investigation was interrupted by a voice on his right. "Make yourself comfortable! From the looks of things, you're going to be here a while!"

Looking over to the voice he found a slightly rotund man, he wore a red and yellow uniform with black pants, glasses and a large mustache dominated his face.

"Who are you, what do you want with me!?" Tails questioned, anger and fear resonating in his tone.

"Please, you don't recognize who I am?"

"Not really, you kind of look familiar but I don't know from where."

"Nothing?" The man sighed to himself. "Children… Utterly Hopeless." He muttered. "I am the brilliant Dr. Eggman! All around genius and master tactician, and you are my precious little captive."

"What do you want me for?"

"Patience now, that would ruin all the fun wouldn't it! Though I must say, I didn't think you would even be still alive in the first place, this has been an interesting turn of events. I must inform Zero he'll get no more business from me after this latest assignment is finished."

"Wait, you killed my…" Tails began before total blinding rage took over, he launched himself at the doctor, only to be flung back to the ground and delivered a painful electric shock. He resolved to growling at the doctor, warning him of what would happen if he got out of his restraints.

"You're a feisty little one aren't you! However, I didn't mean for your parents to perish, I learned of your family's little excursion to the kingdom of Spagonia and so I bartered for the plane to be brought down, expecting to capture the three of you. Imagine my surprise when I learned you had all perished in the crash, with no signs of survival."

"What did you want with my parents?" Tails questioned, maybe getting him to keep talking could provide him some useful information.

"You see, I have a little, project I'm working on, their backgrounds would have proved immensely useful. But for now, I have other plans for you. I have a certain blue hedgehog and brown chipmunk that have been an immense pain in my side, and they both seem to have taken a certain liking to you."

"This is a hostage situation isn't it…" Tails commented, realizing the predicament he had found himself in.

"You catch on fast! I while the original plan was to stage the crash having been caused by the Spagonia military, causing a war. Then, when the dust settled, I'd swoop in and take them both out, leaving me to rule, I'll settle for this."

"Seems like a lot less then you bargained for."

"You have no idea how important you are to my plans, now, enjoy the rest of your stay."

Two large red robots, with a certain likeliness to their owner, restrained and carried the fox back to his cell. Once he was alone again he tucked himself back into his bed, letting out a short series of coughs as he tried to fall asleep.

 **-X-**

Sonic and Sally were still naturally freaking out, they were still no closer to finding Tails, he had been missing for over a week now and royal marines had been sent out into the forest to try and locate any additional clues as to the location of the young Prower. Sonic had joined them, Sally was working on searching the city. There wasn't much additional information on Tails whereabouts and it seemed they had hit a dead end.

That was until he received a call from Sally on his phone.

"Hey Sonic, you're going to want to head back. There's a group of mercenaries attacking the city, they seem Eggman affiliated.

"On it Sal, I'll be there in a second."

Sonic dashed back to the city, where, he found the group of mercenaries Sally had mentioned. They appeared to be a group of jackals, Sonic counted about 5 or 6 in the group. One of them turned to face Sonic, he had a bright red sword in one hand and a small circular gemstone in the other, he recognized this as the Phantom Ruby, a gemstone he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Sonic! You've got some nerve coming here." The jackal yelled, "You cannot hope to stop us!"

"You done? Mr…"

"Call me Zero, now, prepare to be destroyed!"

Sally had arrived from defeating a outlying member of the Jackal Squad just as the two assaulted each other. The other members of the Jackal Squad were continuing to cause havoc and she moved to damage control and preventing them from engaging in the fight with Sonic. They seemed to have Eggman technology at their disposal, this wasn't going to be easy…

 **Alright guys, that's all for now! Let me know what you thought in a review, and stay tuned for the fight with Zero next time!**


	5. Phantoms and Pains

**Hey guys! Happy last day of February, let's get going!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **SuperSentai199: Eggman, while not directly responsible for their death, did order Zero's attack on it.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Forces was a cool concept and I'm going to be using ideas from it in my stories!**

 **TheGameNguyener: I absolutely love the implied powers that the Phantom Ruby has, and I really wish they were shown off better. I don't intend to hold off on its powers at all!**

 **Alright, let's get back to Sonic, Sally, and the Jackal Squad!**

 **Test of Time**

 _ **Phantoms and Pains**_

Sonic dodged another strike from the sword, sliding himself across the ground, he ran at Zero, and stuck at him, only to phase through, the jackal he just jumped through flashed red and disintegrated.

"Please…" He heard Zero's voice. "It's hopeless to fight it." More illusions of Zero appeared around him, "You are nothing…"

"Says the one who's projecting illusions of himself everywhere, why don't you come out and fight me!"

"I'm not an idiot hedgehog! While that may work on Eggman, I'm smarter than him."

"So, you're working with Eggman?"

"We're mercenaries, we work for who we want!"

A sword materialized in front of Sonic and charged at him, he dodged a bit too late and ended up getting a slash across the arm, confirming to him that the real jackal was invisible.

"Coward!" Sonic yelled out.

Their fight continued, Sonic attempting to locate his position. Before a cry was heard. "Sonic!"

He looked over to the voice and found Zero, holding Tails up in the air by his neck. Out of anger and desperation, he charged at it. Only to receive a kick to his chest as the image of Tails and Zero vanished. He tried to stand up, and the jackal materialized on top of him, pushing him down onto his back with his foot.

"You're so gullible!" He laughed.

"What did you do with Tails!?" Sonic demanded.

"I mean…"

Zero's appearance changed and suddenly he had donned a royal marine uniform, the same one from the night Tails was kidnapped.

"I had to finish the job, didn't I?"

Sonic's anger took over from this point and he curled into a ball, grabbing Zero by the wrist and throwing him to the ground, quickly the jackal vanished.

 **-X-**

Sally, meanwhile, was having her own issues as one of the other members, whom had dual blasters on wrist mounts, was currently pinning her into cover behind a small barrier.

"And stay down!" The jackal yelled. One of the other members nearby, whom was wielding a staff, rushed down her position.

Using the jackal's recklessness against him, she deflected the staff strike and twisted his arm back, causing the attacker to drop his weapon. She retrieved it and stuck him across the face, putting him out of the fight. She had used a staff a few times and, while this one wasn't as balanced as she would like, it would have to do.

Diving into another segment of cover the jackal who was preventing her approach turned to call for his fellow squad members. This short lapse in attention was all she needed to close the gap and take down the jackal. Removing one of his wrist mounted blasters, she quickly threw it on, she'd figure out how it worked in a second as right now she was getting charged by a few of the other members.

 **-X-**

Sonic threw the jackal into a wall, he quickly tried to vanish, but was grabbed by the throat.

"Tell me where Tails is!"

"You really don't know!?" Zero laughed.

Sonic tightened his hold on him, letting Zero know what he could do if he wanted. "Where. Is. H-"

"Sonic stop!" The hedgehog turned around and found Sally running toward him he released the jackal for just a moment before grabbing him again and knocking the ruby out of his hand, instantly, Sally vanished.

"Not this time," Sonic commented.

"Alright, alright I'll talk!"

He released him, keeping an eye on the ruby which sat a short distance nearby.

"They're in the mountains, just east of here."

"Who has him?"

"Eggman, he hired us to capture the freak, make u-"

Sonic punched the jackal across the face. "What did you just call him?"

"The kid's a freak, don't tell me you haven't thought of that!"

While it was true that when he first found out about his tails the word did jump to his mind, he didn't say it, and once he met him, he found Tails to be rather likeable.

"Call off your group and we'll let you go."

"Sure, just give me the-"

"You can have it after, not before."

Zero grumbled underneath his breath before moving to gather his squad mates.

 **-X-**

Sally was rather enjoying herself, now that she had some weapons to contend with the squad, they were on more even footing, maybe she'd have to use a staff from here on.

Landing a strike to one of the approaching attackers she fired the wrist mounted blaster at them, forcing them to take cover, and using this distraction. She charged their position and vaulted over their cover, attacking the surprised mercenaries.

"Jackal Squad!"

The fighting stopped and everyone turned to face Zero, whom was approaching them.

"We're done here!"

"Yes, commander Zero," The others replied, before beginning to gather their weapons and fallen comrades. Sally held onto the ones she had confiscated, just in case. Sonic approached her.

"Why are they leaving?" She asked.

"Got Zero to surrender, looks like you had it pretty much under control over here."

"You could say that again, I really need to start using a staff again, that was fun!"

"On another note, Tails is with Eggman."

"Where!? I'd like to teach him a lesson."

"They're somewhere East of here, we could set out tonight, hopefully we can just sneak in."

"By sneak you mean 'Destroy everything in sight'?"

"You know me so well!"

Sally sighed, but she had to admit it was a good plan.

They retired to their home to prepare and wait for nightfall. Tails had been captured for over a week now and it was getting really concerning.

 **-X-**

"I've brought you food." Orbot began, peering into Miles' cell. The kit appeared to be asleep. "Wake up."

Tails coughed in response before turning over with a moan.

"Do you not hear me? Should I speak louder?"

More moans from within the cage was his only reply. Orbot, now concerned as much as his programming would allow, opened the cell, expecting it to be a farce. The kit couldn't escape if he tried anyways due to the collar he was wearing. The kit didn't move, he didn't even stir from his position on his cot. Checking him over, he noted small red spots had appeared around his mouth and were dotted around his arm. He looked completely exhausted. Before anymore investigation could continue, Miles lurched into a coughing fit, with resulted in more red spots appearing across his face and on his bed. His breathing was labored and heavy.

Orbot was confused, maybe he was sick, if so, Eggman would like to know, resealing the cage he returned to his master.

"Sir, Miles appears to be sick."

"Is that so… And why would it be of my concern?" The doctor from his chair bellowed. "It might be better because it'll make it more difficult for him to escape."

"I'm not sure you understand how bad it is."

"He'll be fine, it's probably just a cold or something."

"There's blood sir, he could be losing against it."

At these words he turned from his chair, if what Orbot really was right, this was a problem, he needed him alive, what good would his corpse do? Rising from his chair they headed to the prison block. The kit had still not moved from his position when the door opened, he let out another moan of pain. Eggman walked over and lifted him by the scruff of his neck. The kit tried to resist but couldn't move much as he was hit with another wave of pain.

Eggman was in some morbid way, concerned for him. The fox seemed completely dead, with his only movement being his labored breathing. He noted small beads of sweat that had gathered on his forehead.

"It really does look serious… Seriously useful!"

"What are you thinking?"

"There's no way he'll be able to escape like this! He can barely stand, much less run away!"

For emphasis, he placed the kit onto his feet, and he immediately collapsed back to the floor, the action triggered a coughing fit in him, scattering patches of blood onto the floor.

"Sir! If he dies, Sonic will more than likely have your head! Are you really not concerned?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, he'll be just fine." Eggman walked off back toward his command center. Orbot took one last look at the pitiful sight before him, Tails' eyes opened slightly, and, despite not being able to feel, he could see the pain and desperation in them.

He looked away and followed Eggman, leaving Tails to himself.

 **-X-**

Tails slowly tried to stand up, he felt exhausted, but nonetheless slowly stood on shaky legs and started to stumble toward his cot. A sharp stabbing pain shot through him again. He finally collapsed back on his cot and threw his blanket on the floor, he felt like he was on fire as was, the blanket would probably only make it worse.

A series of coughs expelled themselves from his throat, leaving even more small dots of blood visible on his bedding, while he was disgusted, he couldn't find the energy to move or try to do anything about it, he allowed sleep to take him, thinking it would be much better than his waking condition was currently.

It didn't take him long to fall asleep due to exhaustion, as he did, he had no idea Sonic and Sally were currently planning a rescue attempt for him.

 **-X-**

"Alright!" Sally began. "What could we need?"

"Well, I'm thinking just the usual for raiding Egghead's bases. Nothing but what we normally bring, except for the cure for Tails?"

"I'm not sure I trust either of us with it, we've only got one dose of the thing and if one of us messes up or it gets damaged-"

"I see your point. Hopefully we can just retrieve him and get out. Knowing Eggman he won't just let us go though."

"Yeah, we're definitely going to have to fight for it, hopefully it should be pretty easy."

"He's had months to prepare who knows what Sal, we should be expecting a fight."

"I assumed that much, we'll just see how it goes and what we can do."

They had to wait for nightfall to properly attack. So, they spent the rest of the day locating and scouting the base, it had been constructed against the side of a mountain and was surrounded by patrols and fences.

"This should be fun." Sally remarked, noticing the somewhat scattered defenses.

"Right about that, I just hope we're not too late."

"He'll be alright for the next little bit, we're going to need to be quick though."

Sonic nodded and they began descending the mountainside, preparing for their encounter with Eggman.

 **Alright guys, that's all for now, let me know what you thought in a review and follow to be notified of updates! Until next time!**


	6. Breakout

**Hey guys! Here's another chapter! I hit a small wall here, so I updated Parallel Lives before this one, but I think it helped immensely. Before we get started, I've got some reviews!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Thanks for the review! I always like to question the canon here and bring up the 'What Ifs' for the series. They're my favorite kinds of stories!**

 **SuperSentai199: Zero is super fun to write, but I see where you're coming from!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: It's not that much of a rant, happy that you liked the chapter! Sally and Sonic's fight with Zero had some fun moments and I'm excited to write their inevitable encounter with Eggman!**

 **Let's get going!**

 **Test of Time**

 _ **Breakout**_

Sonic and Sally continued downward and tried to study the base's layout. There was an outer fenced area with several visible defenses, along with an entrance into the main compound. They couldn't tell much about the base's interior from the outside, that would have to wait until they broke in. Hopefully it wasn't anything too complex.

Sonic dashed off toward the base on his own, breaching through the main gate and attacking any robots within his sight, Sally quickly joined him and they quickly blew through the courtyard, devastating anything in sight, as Sonic ran into the main base, the door sealed behind him, trapping Sally outside, she climbed up the side of the structure and eventually found a vent Eggman appeared to have forgotten. Removing the covering, she descended down into the air shaft, finding a area to breach through, she silently dropped down and began an investigation of the interior, taking care as to not be spotted. She wandered through the hallways for sometime, taking out any robots that dared cross her path with relative ease, Eggman was certainly not expecting her to be inside at the moment as his internal defenses were rather sparse and easy to avoid.

Meanwhile, Sonic had just walked into a trap. As soon as the door sealed behind him, he knew something was wrong and his suspicions were confirmed as a large humanoid robot appeared from a large nearby hangar.

"Hello my favorite little pest!" A voice echoed from within the suits internals, being amplified by the echo in the room.

"Where's Tails!?" Sonic yelled, not really expecting much of an honest answer.

"I assure you, your fox friend is fine. Now, prepare to die Sonic!"

The robot's footsteps shook the entire room as it moved, sending vibrations through the walls and floor. Eggman had pulled out the best he had, he was going to win this time.

Sally continued to breeze through the area of the base he was in, she had found a few small prison blocks but Tails was still nowhere. Coming across a locked door, she hacked through the lock and the door opened. Strolling through the corridors, she found a orange colored figure.

"Sally…" He commented. Sally quickly found the controls for his cell and opened it, his restraints activated and Sally picked him up to inspect his condition. His fur had turned a pale orange, blood was smeared around his mouth. He hung limply in her grip, he seemed to have difficulty breathing.

 _"It's worse then we thought, he's going to need the cure, now."_

Grabbing the kitsune and throwing him over her shoulder, she started back toward the exit for the fortress. She started looking over his restraints, seeing if there was any way to get them off. They continued to lock his appendages together and prevent any major movement, if he could find the energy to move in the first place.

"Just hang on Tails, we'll get you out of here soon." She comforted, the kit let out a soft moan at the comment, probably the best he could muster at the moment.

She continued traveling to the exit for the compound, the main doors were sealed, she started working on the panel that operated the controls, it was proving more stubborn than she would have liked, she could hear something moving around on the inside of the door, something large.

While normally she wasn't fond of throwing herself into blatant danger like Sonic, she knew that she wasn't going to be able to get Tails back through the vents, he wasn't going to be able to fly in his current state, even if his restraints had been removed.

Sonic meanwhile, was getting pummeled. Eggman's mech had been originally built to combat himself and Sally, not just one of them. As such, there was much more firepower that the hedgehog could handle, and he was finding it hard to locate an opening in its defences. Combine that with the amount of firepower the robot sported and you had a very bad situation.

He tried another run on the robot's position, only to be chased back behind a broken piece of ceiling that had collapsed during the fight.

"You can't hope to reach me!" Eggman taunted, continuing to approach the hedgehog's position.

Almost as if on cue, the doors opened and Sally ran into the room, before diving behind cover the second she spotted the robot.

"There you are!" Eggman yelled. The robot turned his attention to her. "And don't bother trying to escape with your friend! If he tries to leave, he's going to get a very shocking surprise!"

Sally looked over the kitsune and noticed the collar around his neck, it had the appearance of a small shock collar, there wasn't anything she could do, and she doubted Sonic could as well.

She set the kit behind her cover and started to assist Sonic with fighting the mech, while they made small progress, it was slow going, and they wondered if they could bring it down as fast as was needed.

 **-X-**

Sonic and Sally still attempted to take down the mech, while keeping an eye on Tails, he seemed to be getting worse and worse by the minute, the pale orange his fur had turned to emphasizing his poor health to both of them.

"Sal, we've got to speed this up." Sonic exclaimed, "I don't think he's got very long."

As if he had heard the comment, the kit launched into another fit of dry coughs, spattering additional blood onto the floor near him.

"We can't do anything with that collar on! Unless you've got a way to fix it!"

Sally's comment sparked an idea in him, as much as he didn't want to, it was probably his only chance to survive. Sonic darted over and grabbed Tails, gathering the dying kit into his arms he darted out and toward the exit to the compound.

"Tails if you can still hear me, I'm really sorry about this…"

Sonic increased his speed and dashed past the entrance at full speed. The second he broke the boundary Tails body went rigid, a grimace went over his face, he would have screamed out in pain but was unable to due to exhaustion.

"Just hang on a bit longer bud, I know it hurts." Sonic encouraged, even though he wasn't wearing the collar, he could feel mild electrical current running through his arms.

The kit's body was overwhelmed, trying to fight off his cell deterioration and electrocution, he was really tired, he started to let the dark at the edges of his vision take over. Sonic noticed his eyes starting to droop.

"Tails, you need to stay awake! Just hold it off for a bit longer bud!"

He appeared to really try and fight it for a moment, before starting to give in again.

Sonic dashed into the castle's laboratory at full speed, scattering components and papers across the room, Jarus was shocked by his sudden appearance before he noticed Tails laying in his arms.

"Put him on the table," He yelled as he grabbed the syringe from a nearby storage cabinet. As he came over to inject it, he stopped. "Why's he acting like this?"

"We need to get that collar off him! It's electrocuting him!"

Jarus lined up the needle with a blood vessel and injected the solution, dashing out of the room for a moment, he quickly returned with a hammer, and started taking swings at the main component of the collar, he continued striking it until the kit relaxed. He placed his hand on his chest.

"His heart rate is all over the place! There's a defibrillator a few rooms down at the end of the hall, I need it, now!"

Sonic didn't need to be told twice, he ran down and retrieved the device, Jarus placed it to his chest and activated it, causing the kitsune's body to convulse in response, he checked his heart rate again.

"Looks like that did it, thankfully. Electrocution throws natural heart rhythms out of sync, but hopefully he should start recovering."

"How long do you think that'll take?"

"I'd live him a few hours until he's awake, a day or two until full recovery, he's going to stay here so I can keep a close eye on him."

"Could we do the same? I really need to apologize for something."

"Sure, you've been a great help, I think he'll want to see you two."

Sonic gave him a thumbs up, as he did so, Sally ran into the room.

"Is he-"

"He's alright," Sonic replied. "Cure's in him, and the collar is off."

She gave him a firm slap on the face, "What were you thinking!? You could have killed him with a stunt like that!"

"But I didn't, it was the only way it would have worked."

"You have no idea how lucky you are."

"I'll give you two some space," Jarus interjected, picking up Tails' limp form and taking him out with him. Sally continued her angry rant with Sonic.

"You've had some pretty stupid ideas since we met, but I think this one takes it! Honestly, how- WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?"

Sonic had stepped out with Jarus, Sally followed, still rather angry at the rashness of Sonic's plan. Jarus took the kit to a small infirmary and tucked him into one of the beds. Sonic took a seat by him.

"Look, Sal, I knew it was risky, but he would have died if I didn't do something, I had to give it a try."

"Fine… Doesn't mean it wasn't insane though." She replied.

Sonic smiled at her before giving Tails a rub on the head, his breathing had returned to normal and while he still looked pretty terrible, it was evidence he was improving.

The two stayed with him for a while, until eventually, they both fell asleep, Sally leaning back in her chair, and Sonic with his head resting on the small bed.

 **-X-**

"Sonic?" The voice spoke, "Sonic."

"Yes Tails..." He sleepily replied before realizing who had just spoke to him. "Tails!"

The kit let out a soft chuckle at his reaction as the hedgehog pulled him into a tight hug. Sally woke shortly after and joined him.

"How you feeling?" Sally asked.

"So much better! What did I even have?"

"I, think we'll explain that some other time, we're just happy to have you back."

"Well, looks like I'm back to staying with you two again, wait…" Tails grabbed at his neck, "Where's my locket!? I had it-"

"I took it off for you, the last thing we wanted was for it to get damaged." Sally replied, giving it back to the kit, whom eagerly placed it back around his neck.

"You probably are gonna want more sleep," Sonic added. "Also, sorry for electrocuting you back there."

"It's fine, hurt like crazy though…" Tails yawned, before laying back down on his pillow. "Hey, I'm not coughing up blood anymore…"

"That's something, night Tails."

The kit closed his eyes and almost instantly fell asleep. Leaving Sonic and Sally to talk amongst themselves.

"So, Sonic…" Sally began, "What are your thoughts on adopting him now?"

"I… I think I might actually enjoy it, we'll talk about it."

Sally smiled and they both fell back asleep.

 **Alright guys, that's all for now, I think we'll have one more chapter after this, let me know what you thought! Until next time!**


	7. Support of Others

**Alright, let's get this wrapped up!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **SuperSentai199: At least he's safe now!**

 **TheGameNguyener: I think you've found the right place then! It's a thing I like sometimes as well. Expect to see some more in other stories.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: He should be pretty happy, especially after what happened last chapter.**

 **Test of Time**

 _ **Support of Others**_

Tails slowly started to recover and stabilize after being freed from Eggman's hold. He started to get some of his strength back with a day of rest and was at least now aware of his surroundings. While still rather weak, he was just as enthusiastic as usual.

Sonic and Sally were talking outside of his room, they had discussed taking care of the fox, with some convincing, Sonic had agreed to the proposal. Now they just had to see if Tails was alright with it.

"How about you tell him," Sonic began. "He seems to be more attached to you."

"Alright, you need to stay here though. I'll see if he's awake."

She opened the door and stepped into Tails' small infirmary room, the fox smiled at her appearance. "Hey Sally, how you doing?"

"I'm fine, you feeling any better?"

"A bit, still a little tired though."

"That's good, at least you're feeling better."

They didn't talk for a second, Sally decided to break it to him.

"Tails, me and Sonic have been talking and, we were wondering if you wanted to stay with us?"

"Like, permanently?"

"Yeah, you'd live with us. There isn't much else we could do, and I think we've both enjoyed these past few days."

"Well, I…" The fox seemed to run the proposal over for a minute, "I, think that would be nice."

"I need you to be sure Tails."

"I'm sure, I want to stay with you guys!"

Sally smiled at his excitement. "Awesome!"

The kitsune sat up and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you! Does that mean I call you mom and dad now?"

"I wouldn't, you still had your parents, I don't want to take away from that."

"Alright."

They sat in a hug for a bit before eventually Tails relaxed, freeing the two of them. Sonic entered the room from out in the hall. "Hey Tails. Sally break you the news?"

"Yes, I just want to say thank you!"

"You're welcome bud."

 **-X-**

A day or two later, Tails was considered well enough to leave, Sonic and Sally were asked to keep an eye on him to see if any of his symptoms came back. They agreed and took Tails back to their place. They figured they'd get him his own room once he got over his night terrors, until then, he would sleep in Sonic's room.

A few of the kitsune's possessions were brought over, most of the things his parents owned would be withheld until he was older. They allowed him his father's tools, which Sonic decided would stay in the garage.

The fox still seemed slightly upset whenever the topic of his parents came up, this was expected. He wouldn't be over their deaths overnight. Sonic decided that the fox would need some form of intervention to help him through it. He and Sally were rather protective of the kit, they didn't want to get Tails any more hurt than he already was.

"I wonder how he's going to handle seeing Eggman," Sonic thought aloud. "Maybe we could try and keep him away from that until he's a bit older."

"Sounds good, I think that'd be a little much for him right now."

"Where's Tails at by the way?"

"He's going through his dad's stuff. So probably in the garage."

Sonic stood up and walked back to the garage, Tails was sitting on the floor, he had pulled out practically everything that he had been given and had covered the floor with assorted tools.

"Hey Tails!" Sonic spoke, walking up to the kit. "What are you thinking about?"

The kitsune took a second to respond. "It's just, I miss my parents, my real ones that is."

"It's alright, that's normal."

"I don't want to be normal though, I want to be me…"

"Tails, you're not just going to forget about them. Look, you see that locket." Sonic responded, pointing to Tails' chest. "Your parents gave you that so you wouldn't forget them, I know they wouldn't want you to."

"I guess you have a point. I'm just going to miss talking to them."

"Well, I think I have an idea that might help with that."

"What?"

"How about we could go visit where they're buried, does that sound ok?"

"Yeah…"

Sonic pulled Tails up to his feet and they stepped back out into main room, Sonic informed Sally and the three set off, they quickly arrived and Tails sat himself by the pair of stones. Sonic and Sally gave him some time to himself, they could vaguely hear him talking from where they were at.

"You really think this will help?" Sally asked.

"I hope so Sal, I've got no better ideas. Maybe letting him just pretend they're still here for a bit will let him put it to rest."

The fox in the distance laid down fully against the grass.

"I hope you're right," Sally replied. "Otherwise we might just be making it worse. I'll go sit by him, maybe he wants company."

"I wouldn't, he just needs his time."

"Sonic, that's not how these things work, it'll make him feel even more alone. I'll be right back."

Sally approached the fix, who hadn't noticed her presence yet. His speech came more into focus. "I'll hold onto it, promise."

When he stopped talking for a second, she stepped up to where he was and sat down next to him. He rested his head on Sally's shoulder.

"Sal, he started. I still want to thank you for talking care of me."

"It's nothing Tails."

He didn't respond for a moment. "Sally?" He eventually began. "How did you and Sonic meet?"

"We met a long time ago, we were just both trying to help people who were threatened by Eggman."

She continued her story, it was something to take his mind off the recent events.

 **-X-**

" _You like helping people! This is just that but better!"_

" _The killer robots are a bit much! Can't we just go back to normal things like volunteering?"_

" _This is so much better though!"_

She tuned out her inter argument to focus on the task at hand. Taking a swing at a robot plated in red armor with her staff, sending it flying into another.

" _You were aiming for that right?"_

" _I'll say I was."_

She continued forward, looking for anybody who still needed to clear the area. Eventually she came across a blue hedgehog, he wore a short brown scarf and while and red shoes.

"Hey, it's not safe to be here! You need to get out of here!" Sally commanded.

The hedgehog turned to face her, confused at her request. "I could say the same for you!"

"Oh please, I've fought these guys before, they're not so tough."

Instantly, the hedgehog was next to her, "Look, I don't need any help, I happy you're a fan, but I don't need a sidekick right now."

"How did you-"

"They don't call me Sonic for nothing." He replied, shrugging as he stepped away from her.

"Look, I'm not your sidekick, I don't know what you're doin-"

The hedgehog vanished, cutting her off mid sentence. She searched around for him in a fit of rage, before continuing on her search for other civilians.

 **-X-**

She ran into him a few days later during another attack. She jumped down from the low balcony and readjusted her medical pack.

"You again!?" He yelled. "Would you stop following me!"

"What are you even doing here? What are you trying to accomplish?"

"I'm just here to trash some robots, how about you?"

"Trying to evacuate everyone in the area."

"I think I've got it, just get yourself t-"

Their discussion was interrupted by the appearance of a group of robots, Sonic instantly charged them. Sally quickly followed and started taking swings at them.

Sonic stopped his onslaught, "You know, you're not bad!" He stuck another robot, slicing it into pieces. "What's your name?"

"Sally, you're not bad yourself."

As they continued Sally noticed a robot trying to line up a shot with Sonic, not being able to reach it in time, she threw her staff at it, impaling it directly in the chest, Sonic immediately struck it in the chest. He retrieved the staff and handed back to her.

"I had it under control." He commented.

"Sure you did," Sally replied, rolling her eyes as she did.

He smiled back and they finished off the squadron. After they had finished, Sally noticed that Sonic had been shot on the arm, the blast leaving a large injured area.

"Stay still," She commanded, opening up her medical kit.

"It's fine."

"It's not fine, that looks pretty serious." She responded pulling out a bottle of water and opening it. "This could sting a bit."

The hedgehog winced as the wound was cleaned with water and disinfectant. A bandage was tightly wrapped around it, preventing additional bleeding.

Sonic was slightly amazed at just how neat the injury now looked. A crisp white bandage sitting around his arm. "Thanks…"

"It's all I can do here." Sally replied, replacing her medical pack.

"It's great, best I've seen in a while." Sonic replied, stretching his arm back out.

"It's not smart to be out here without medical help."

"I haven't need them for a while, you just happened to be here when I did."

"I'll take that as a thank you."

The hedgehog dashed back off and Sally was left with even more questions then before.

 **-X-**

They met each other again later, Sonic still had the bandage wrapped around his arm, Sally approached him and he noticed her presence.

"We've got to stop meeting like this."

"I don't mind it," She replied, taking a seat down on a piece of rubble. "How's the arm?"

"Great, still looks nasty but I can't feel any difference, don't know what you did."

"Use prop-"

Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a cat like mech, Sally prepared her weaponry.

"You need to get out of here!" Sonic yelled. She tightened her grip on her staff.

"Hello my meddlesome friend! I see you've brought your love interest along with you!" A voice spoke from the mech.

"She's not my love interest, leave her alone!"

"Don't deny it Sonic, in fact, I think I'll use this to my advantage!"

Several claws extended and tried to grab at Sally, who swatted at the appendages with her staff.

"She's a fighter!" The voice continued.

Sonic charged the mech, attacking at its exterior. "Leave her alone Eggman!"

He attempted to slice through its armor, only to ricochet off.

"This armor is impenetrable! You'll never get in!"

Sonic ran over to Sally and started assisting in fighting off the claws.

"I heard what he said." Sally began, "You're going to need my help."

Sonic sighed, "Alright, doesn't mean I'm going to like it."

Sally smiled and finished off the claws. "There's got to be somewhere we could get in, look for external areas that aren't armored as much."

Sonic dodged several attacks from the mech as he looked over its surface. He eventually located what appeared to be a breach in the armor. He returned to Sally. "I've found an opening, but it's an air shaft, there's not anything else I know of."

"It's as good of a shot as any, let's go."

Sonic distracted as Sally clambered atop the robot, she removed the air vent and dropped down, breaking through the vent sealing the other side with a loud crash.

A man sat in a chair across from him, whom deployed a shield to prevent her from reaching him.

"You're resourceful," He began. "Unfortunately for you, I have a way out of here!" He activated a system from within his mech and the entrance she had come in sealed behind her before the scientist ejected from the craft. A countdown appeared on the monitor, she attacked the walls and objects around her, not being able to escape from the confides of the mech. She heard a loud crash above her and heard Sonic's voice. "Sal, the vent's sealed!"

"I'm well aware of that, try to get it open, hurry!"

After a couple tense seconds of attacks from both sides, part of it collapsed and they broke through, Sonic pulled her up and they ascended to the top of the mech.

"We have to get out of here!" Sally yelled.

Not wasting any time, Sonic picked up Sally and ran off, much to the chipmunk's surprise.

"Now we're even," Sonic responded.

"Alright, thanks for the save back there."

"No problem, where do you live?" Sonic asked.

"Not really anywhere, been living wherever I can I guess…"

"Do you want to stay at my place? I still kind of owe you."

"That'd be great, if you have the room that is..."

"I've got plenty of space! Do you have anything you need to get?"

"Not really, I've basically got all my stuff with me."

"Well let's get going then!"

 **-X-**

"That's how we met, pretty neat huh?"

"Yeah! You fought Eggman? That's so cool!" Tails replied.

"When you get older, maybe you'll get a shot."

"That'd be awesome!"

"You ready to head back?"

"I think so."

"Cool, I'll grab Sonic."

The three returned to the house, as close to family as one could get.

 **That's the end everyone! It was really enjoyable to write this, and I'd like to thank everybody who read and reviewed this story as we went! I absolutely loved writing this! Please let me know your final thoughts! Thank you everyone, this is Leodragon678 signing off!**


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